Cast stone units for building walls and the method of laying them in courses



Dec. 5, 1950 w E KELLY 2,532,922

CAST STONE UNIT FQR'BUILDING WALLS AND THE METHOD OF LAYING THEM IN COURSES Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 19, 1947 W. E. KELLY CAST STONE UNIT FOR BUILDING WALLS AND THE Dec 5, 1950 METHOD OF LAYING THEM IN COURSES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 19, 1947 INVENTOR cam ,I/

Patented Dec. 5, 1950 CAST STONE UNITS FOR BUILDING WALLS AND THE METHOD OF LAYING THEM IN COURSES Walter E. Kelly, Portland, Oreg.

Application February 19, 1947, Serial No. 729,478

2 Claims.

My present invention has for its object to provide a novel unit for use in the erection of walls for buildings which may be readily prefabricated in quantities and used in the construction of both sides of a wall simultaneously thus affording a finish to the inner wall face, the two parts of the wall being bonded together and united in such a manner as to exclude the possibility of moisture penetrating the structure.

Another object of my invention is to provide a cast stone block so formed or shaped that in laying up the inner and outer courses of a wall that they will be bonded by the mortar or cement applied to similar projecting parts extending inwardly and outwardly in overlapping relation from the opposite wall faces but without contacting the contiguous inner faces of opposing blocks.

My invention also comprehends the method of laying the inner and outer courses of a wall and to effect a bond between said courses while providing a clearance or air space between the edges of the overlapping bonding projections and the proximate inner faces of courses whereby the passage of moisture from the walls exterior to its interior is prevented.

To these and other ends my invention has for its object to provide further improvements in construction, all as will be fully described in the accompanying specification, the novel features thereof being set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing both the building blocks embodying my invention and a section of a wall laid in accordance with my method of wall construction.

Figure 2 is a top plan view further illustrating my invention.

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic plan view of the meeting edges of two blocksillustrating a feature of my block construction.

Figure 4 is a vertical cross sectional view taken .on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Figure 5 is a top plan view showing the formation of a wall corner and a window casing insert Or opening in the wall.

Figure 6 is a detail perspective of a lintel or the top of a wall opening.

Figure 7 is a vertical cross sectional view of a lintel which in this case is a View of the top of a window casing.

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view of a window sill.

- Similar reference characters in the several figures indicate similar parts.

In carrying out my invention I have devised a novel form of building block the particular advantages of which is that it may be made of cast stone and used in constructing both the inner and outer faces of a building wall and provided with surface finishes approximate to these such faces. Also when the inner wall face is laid subsequent work such as stripping, furring, lathing and plastering or decorating is not required. Further the construction of the unit blocks is such that adequate bonding is afiorded between those used in building the opposite sides of the wall without their eifecting such a point of contact that moisture or frost can penetrate inwardly from the exterior to the interior face.

In the drawings blocks meeting the above requirements are illustrated. They comprise a body portion I of any desired dimensions but preferably such that their weight may be easily handled by a mason with due consideration to the architectural effect desired and building code requirements. The blocks are laid in horizontal rows and vertical courses, the joints between their meeting ends being staggered or broken. In order to effect an interlocking between the meeting edges of adjacent blocks I provide on one end of the block a tongue and on its opposite end a complementary groove, said parts being specially formed so that there is no continuity of the mortar or cement between the two sides of the block.

The groove which extends vertically lies mostly at the inner side of the block. It has a fiat bottom 2 inset from the end face 3 of the block joined thereto by an inclined outer edge 4. The opposite shoulder of the recess may either be at right angles to the bottom as shown at 5 in Fig. 3, or at an angle divergent to the face 4 as illustrated in the other figures and indicated by 5. The latter is for a utilitarian purpose in that it aids in drawing the cast block in a green state from the mold form but it also has another purpose. It will be noted that the inner extremity of the inclined face 6 lies in the plane of the inner face 1 of the body l in the same position occupied by the squared edge 5 (Fig. 3), hence when the corresponding tongue of the adjacent block is positioned a perfect alinement of the two blocks ensues and the mortar channel 8 between them is closed at its inner edge.

The tongue at the other end of the block protrudes beyond the block end 9. Its extremity is fiat, as indicated at Ill, and the outer and inner shoulders I i and i2 are beveled in opposite directions. The inner shoulder i2 is a short chamfered surface and designed to engage with the 3 corresponding inner inclined face 6 of the groove to close off the mortar channel 8. It also serves to fix the Width of such channel so that uniformity exists throughout the wall and in assembling the blocks a mason is not required to gauge the space between the meeting ends of blocks.

The tops and the bottoms of the block bodies I are perfectly flat and lie in parallel planes at right angles to the parallel outer and inner faces I3 and l of the block.

On its grooved end the block has a lateral pro jection or wing E5 on its inner side which is the full height of the block. This projection serves as the means for bonding the inner and outer blocks of a wall. Said wing has an end face I6 which is at right angles to the outer face of the block and is in terminal alinement with the blocks end face 3.

Ihe length, or depth, of the projection, i. e. the distance it extends inwardly from the inner side H! of the block is proportional to the transverse thickness of the block in order to meet certain standards in the building trade, particularly for insuring that when two blocks are laid in opposition, in erecting the two sides of a wall that the air space, or void, between them shall be approximately i0% of the wall thickness. The inner face it of the wing 55 is vertical and parallel to the two perpendicular faces 13-? of the block and its remaining face 53 is preferably inclined, as shown, thus increasing its area at its base and adding strength thereto.

The formation described of the block per se plays an important function in carrying out my improved method of wall construction as it enables the wall to be built alike on its two faces. In this operation the series of blocks comprising said faces are laid back to back and end to end in the same horizontal courses, the blocks on one wall side are offset endwise in relation to those forming the other wall side. This staggers the vertical mortar channels 8 on the two faces of the wall so that there is no continuity or through connection of said channels from one face of the wall to the other.

It will be observed from Figs. 1 and 2 that this o'ifsetting of the end positions of the two sets of blocks causes a vertical alinement of the wings i5 as successive horizontal courses are laid. The

overlying upper and lower faces of said wings provide ample bonding by the intervening layer M of mortar or cement, as indicated in Fig. 4.

A further important feature of my invention reside in the laying of the opposing horizontal courses with areas of separation between the tinuous horizontal lines do not meet the wing bonds l i and thus again it will be seen that there is no continuity of a more or less porous body extending across the wall by means of which the effects of moisture or frost can penetrate it. If desired a hard setting water proof cement may be used in all the joints and if it is desired to emphasize them they may be also raked while the wall is being laid.

The elemental construction of the blocks above described also lends itself to other features involved in the practical construction of buildings for instance, as shown in Fig. 5, illustrating a corner. In such cases I provide an exterior corner block 25 having the lateral wing 25 in which I provide the groove 21, formed as previously set forth, with which the tongue of an adjoining block 28 may be engaged. In this figure I have also indicated a convenient manner for constructing a wall opening for accommodating a window casing. The latter in this instance is indicated by the vertical side or jarnb 29. In setting the latter the inner and outer side wall blocks 28 and 30 will be cut to the necessary lengths and a suitably shaped moulding or trim 31 inserted as a facing secured between the outer and inner wall blocks. Such an element constitutes a rectangular frame which extends over the top of the window casing as shown in Fig. 7 and beneath it as shown in Fig. 8 to support the sill 32.

In Fig. 6 I have shown the facility with which a lintel for any wall opening may be readily constructed by merely cutting off in the casting operation the lower portion of the wings of the blocks which span the opening, as indicated at 33 andlaying the blocks ona horizontal metal plate 34. The removal of the lower portions of the wings permits the insertion of reinforcing bars 35 which span the opening and the use of a filling 36 of concrete which may also be anchored in place by extending the filling in the adjacent voids between the wall blocks as indicated at 3?,

The cast stone units embodying my invention used for the outer side of. a wall may be produced with an appropriate surface finish such as tooled limestone, o'r pulverized marble or granite. Likewise the face of the blocks on the inner side of the wall may be given a different colored eifect by incorporating in the molding operation sands of different colors, or they may be given an imitation marble facing. Wall building blocks thus constructed possess the advantage of being interfitted at their ends which makes them self-a-linin'g units with a form of non-continuous joints in both the horizontal and vertical directions and at the same time providing a means for bonding the complementary inner and outer courses to afford the requisite strength required in a wall.

I claim:

1. An L-shaped building block comprising a rectangular solid body having upper, lower, inner, outer, and end faces, an extension of the same height as said body, projecting from the inner face thereof, to complete the L-shap'e', the length of the projection of said extension from said inner face being substantially equivalent to the thickness of said body and the width of said projection narrowing toward the end thereof, a tongue means on one end face of said body, said tongue means being of asymmetrical truncated pyramidal form with two side faces inclined to the end face of the body and the end face parallel to the end face of the body, a mating groove means on the other end face of said body, said groove mans being of a form complementary to that of the tongue, one inclined face of the groove means terminating at the inner face of the body for forming an alinement surface.

2. A wall comprising a plurality of L-s-haped building blocks laid end to end in horizontal courses wherein the individual blocks include a rectangular solid body, an extension of the same height as said body, projecting from one face thereof, to complete the L-Shape, the length of the projection of said extension from said face being substantially equivalent to the thickness of said body, tongue meanson one end of said body, mating gro'eve means on the other end of said 5 body, said tongue and groove means cooperating on adjoining blocks for providing a tortuous four sided mortar joint closed on one side by block to block contact.

WALTER E. KELLY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Johnson Oct. 31, 1905 Number Number Number 

